A fantastic sushi restaurant within walking distance of the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. Arrive around 4pm on Sundays and Mondays before the restaurant opens at 5pm to get in line for 50% off your sushi order! The miso butterfish and dynamite shrimp are a must, and the sashimi melted in our mouths. Warning, I tend to over order as we have to get the entire dinner order placed before 5:30pm for the 50% off special. We always eat here at least once during our weeklong stay on Maui.
Felt like sushi on our last night in Maui had the great fortune to find this gem on google map! Since we didn’t have a reservation they could only seat us at the sushi bar which was a score! Host was fantastic and reviewed some of his favourites with us which we did end up choosing most of them. WOW! I’m worried every sushi meal after this will never compare! Combinations and flavours! Definitely will ALWAYS be a must on my Maui dining list!
A nice find. We were very pleased to find this excellent Japanese restaurant so close to our hotel with plenty of parking. The food was simply delicious. My wife stated that the duck was the best she ever had and my shellfish/pasta dish was superb. The portions were generous and the service impeccable. Definitely would return.
Excellent meal. Never disappoints with the quality of fish, and innovation in rolls. Had the Blue Fin Otoro, what a treat!
If you are reading this.... THIS IS THE ONLY SANSEI THAT IS WORTH YOUR TIME. My husband and I tried the location in Kihei, same meal..... it was a total disaster : (
Ate at the bar. Diverse menu. Accommodated my shell fish allergy and made EXCELLENT recommendations. Best food we had by far! Even the dessert was tasty. Friendly and helpful staff. AWESOME experience. TIP: 1/2 price on Sunday/Monday for Happy Hour. Don't miss it!!
We've been coming to the Kapalua or Kihei location of Sansei in Maui for 20 years. Previously it was alwaysat happy hour because my auntie was a kama'aina but this time it was just me and the hubby. We almost didn't come because online showed no reservations but then we got there and the Resto is empty at 8 pm. Seriously I don't know what's going on with online reservations in Maui, as the same thing happened at Mama's, Plantation and Monkey Pod. Do these rests not want tourists? Is that why online there is no availability at all and then you show up and get a table in minutes? In any case, I was not optimistic to start as our waitress was CLUELESS about the food and we hadn't been to Sansei since 2014 but then our food was simply outstanding. Every dish, every piece of sushi, flawless and I'm hapa so not a connoisseur but not clueless either and prefer as close to authentically Japanese as possible, The sushi rice was perfect texture and perfectly seasoned as were the side dishes. I couldn't fault it but again I'm not full Japanese so no expert. It was disappointing that monk fish liver is no longer on the menu as that is one of our favourites, but we didn't bother asking our waitress because she was just that clueless. Cocktails were excellent and service, despite the ignorance of our waitress, was fast. I don't know what the heck is going on with online reservations so I don't want to advise walking in as we did (8pm on a Wed evening) but if you love authentic Japanese food and sushi, this is your place. Can't wait to come back.
Never had Sushi, and enjoyed every minute of it, however when returning the next day for a couple of cocktails I was told that there was a waiting list for the bar even though there were only 4 people at most stood there. A waiting list for the bar, what a joke. my advise for this restaurant and most of the others on Maui always book in advance.
Sansei is located within walking distance to the Ritz Carlton so we decided to have dinner there one night during our stay. We made reservations in advance. It's a more casual environment than the other restaurants that we visited during our stay but the food was excellent. We started with the Miso Butterfish appetizer and the Brussels Sprouts. Both were excellent. Although Brussels Spouts seem to be a popular menu item lately, these were different enough to stand out. Our server (Ryan) really made our experience wonderful with his recommendations. We enjoyed the California Roll, Dragonfly Roll, Hawaiian Roll and the Sansei Special Roll. Honestly, we liked it all. Two things that left sort of a negative impression: there's this weird sanitizing station at the door that is almost laughable. It has steam coming out of it that immediately floats out the door. Second, they included a "kitchen service fee" of almost $6 on our bill with no mention of what this was for. We ate in the restaurant, not take out. Other than those two things, I'd recommend Sansei for a casual dinner when in Maui.
The food was delicious! The only thing is, the kitchen stopped taking orders at 8:35 and our reservation was at 8. So we had to make sure to put in all or our order before they shut down the kitchen. Would definitely recommend going though!